Chase Elliott expected to miss several weeks with leg injury NASCAR Xfinity results at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Austin Hill wins NASCAR Xfinity race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Cup starting lineup: Joey Logano wins pole Joey Logano wins pole for NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas

Former NASCAR Cup Series Champion Chase Elliott He is expected to miss several weeks of competition after successfully undergoing surgery for a broken leg on Friday night.

Elliott injured his left leg in a snowboarding accident in Colorado on Friday and underwent three-hour surgery on Friday night. Hendrick Motorsports President Jeff Andrews said Saturday morning that Elliott is recovering well and is expected to be released from the hospital on Saturday.

Xfinity Series Driver Josh Berry will fill in for Elliot in Sunday’s Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and is expected to continue to fill in for Elliot while he recovers.

“I expect this (Elliott’s absence) to last a few weeks, but more than that, I don’t have a schedule,” Andrews said. “I can’t help but repeat on behalf of Mr. (Rick) Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports that the most important thing is Chase’s health and well being. We are going to race together for a long time and win many races. We will have a place ready for him when he recovers and is ready to return to the race car.”

Andrews said Hendrick Motorsports had applied to NASCAR for a waiver that would allow Elliott to compete in the Cup Series playoffs if he qualified.

MORE: Las Vegas Cup Race Start Times, Weather, TV Info

Sunday’s race will be Berry’s third Cup start. In 2021, he competed in two races for Spire Motorsports. Regularly participating in the Xfinity Series, Berry drives for JR Motorsports. In 2022, he took three Xfinity victories and finished fourth in series points. He won twice at LVMS.

Berry, who has not yet driven a Next Gen Cup car, said his success in Las Vegas should speed up his adjustment process.

“A lot of things happened very quickly,” Berry said. “The fact that I’ve won twice here at Xfinity definitely makes it that much easier. I will be mastering a new car in an hour or so (in practice). Success on the track definitely gives me more confidence in what I’m doing.”

Berry, who finished fifth in Saturday’s LVMS Xfinity race, said he appreciates the opportunity to race a cup car but regrets the circumstances.

“This is Chase’s ride and his opportunity,” Berry said. “I am just grateful that Mr. H and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports thought of me to replace him at this moment. No doubt this is a big challenge for me, but also a great opportunity to grow and learn as a driver and work with a lot of smart people. I will do this one circle at a time, one day at a time.

“It was a crazy couple of days. You never know what will happen when you wake up.”

Kyle Bush said on Saturday that he reached out to Elliott to offer advice and help. Busch missed racing with a broken leg early in the 2015 season and won the championship. He said he expected Elliot to be away for at least a month.

Alex Bowman, Elliott’s teammate, missed several races last season. “It’s a really unfortunate situation,” he said. “You almost feel forgotten because obviously everything is going on except for you. That’s pretty much how it was for me. I watched every race except one. I went to an NFL game. Just what my doctor wanted me to do. Other than that, I watched every week. And yes, it’s not fun.”

Andrews said he did not expect a change in Hendrick Motorsports’ policy on non-racing events in which drivers are allowed to enter. “These guys should go out and live off the race track,” he said. “Of course, what Chase did was not something abnormal for him. He is an experienced snowboarder and has been doing it for most of his life. It was an accident.”

Austin Hill started the 2023 Xfinity Series season as a Hard Charger.

Hill passed Chandler Smith for the lead with one lap remaining on Saturday and won the Xfinity 300 mile race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Hill, winner of Daytona International Speedway’s first season, visited Victory Lane for two of the first three races on the schedule.

Smith led for over half of the race but was caught up and passed by Hill and Justin Algayer near the finish line. Smith came in third, followed by Kyle Bush And Josh Berry.

Race Results: Las Vegas Xfinity Results

Points report: Xfinity driver scores after Las Vegas

Austin Hill took the lead with one lap to go and won Saturday’s Xfinity Series 300 mile race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Hill passed Chandler Smith for the lead as they approached the start-finish line to take the white flag. Smith dominated most of the race until the final laps, leading 118 laps.

hill and Justin Algayer steadily outperformed Smith over the last 10 laps and eliminated Smith’s 2.5 second lead.

Allgaier also passed Smith to finish second. Smith was third Kyle Bush fourth and Josh Berry fifth.

MORE: Xfinity results, driver points

“I just knew that I shouldn’t overuse the tires and try to methodically work my way through traffic,” Hill told Fox Sports. “The movement was really heavy. it was necessary to draw a line between 3 and 4.

Smith, who was after his first Xfinity win, said his car became stiff late in the race.

Smith, 20, has five wins in the Craftsman Truck Series. Competing in the Xfinity Series full-time for the first time, he was fourth in last week’s Xfinity race at Auto Club Speedway.

MORE: Chase Elliot Expected To Out For Several Weeks

MORE: Joey Logano Wins Cup Pole

Hill also won his first season at Daytona International Speedway with Richard Childress Racing.

28-year-old Hill won the second stage of the race, leading Brandon Joneskyle Bush, Sam Mayer And Sammy Smith to the finish.

Algaier, who was in contention for the win, received a run-through penalty on the restart during stage two, but rallied and returned to the top five. The runner-up finish was his fourth in Las Vegas, and he remains winless at that track.

John Hunter Nemechek won the first stage, ahead of 24 out of 45 laps. Allgaier, Austin Hill, Chandler Smith and Riley Autumn.

Stage 1 winner: John Hunter Nemechek

Stage 2 winner: Austin Hill

Who had a good race: Hill, who has performed well on super-fast tracks, has shown that he can excel on medium-distance tracks as well. … Chandler Smith looks set for an outstanding season with Kaulig Racing. … Series Cup winner Kyle Busch, winner of Friday’s truck race, lost out to the trio in Las Vegas but performed well in the top five.

Who had a bad race: Parking fuel pump problem Joey Geis on lap 156. He finished 38th. … Geoffrey Earnhardt finished three laps 29th.

Next: The Xfinity Series is heading to Phoenix Raceway on March 11th.